Chapter 4

Spread Spectrum Communication Systems

Debre tabor University

Gafat Institute of Technology
Electrical and Computer Engineering

1
Overview
• Introduction to spread spectrum
• Pseudo - noise sequence
• Basic spread spectrum techniques
• Direct sequence spread spectrum
• Frequency hopped spread spectrum

2
 Introduction to spread spectrum
• Spread spectrum is a modulation method that increases the
transmitted signal bandwidth to a value much larger than the
needed to transmit the underlying information bits.
• The following three properties are needed for a signal to be
spread-spectrum modulated
1. The signal occupies a bandwidth much larger than the
needed for the information signal
2. The spread-spectrum modulation is done using a spreading
code, which is independent of the data in the signal
3. Dispreading at the receiver is done by correlating the
received signal with a synchronized copy of the spreading
code

3
 Cont. …

General model of spread spectrum digital communication

system

4
 Advantage and dis-advantages of spread spectrum
• What can be gained from apparent waste of spectrum?
▪ Resists intentional and non-intentional interference
▪ Can be used for hiding and encrypting signals
▪ Several users can independently use the same higher
bandwidth with very little interference
▪ Privacy due to the pseudo random code sequence (code
division multiplexing)
• Disadvantages
▪ Bandwidth inefficient
▪ Implementation is somewhat more complex

5
Overview
• Introduction to spread spectrum
• Pseudo - noise sequence
• Basic spread spectrum technique
• Direct sequence spread spectrum
• Frequency hopped spread spectrum

6
 Pseudo-Noise Sequence
• Pseudo-noise (PN) sequence is a periodic binary sequence
with noise like waveform
• It is usually generated by a means of shift register whose
block diagram is shown as:

• The PN sequence generated so is determined by the length

𝑚 of the shift register, its initial state and the feedback logic

7
 Cont. …
• If 𝑠𝑗 𝑘 denote the state of 𝑗𝑡ℎ flip-flop after the 𝑘 𝑡ℎ clock
pulse, then from definition of shift register it follows;
𝑘≥0
𝑠𝑗 𝑘 + 1 = 𝑠𝑗−1 𝑘 , ቊ
1≤𝑗≤𝑚
• Where 𝑠0 𝑘 is the input applied to the first flip-flop after 𝑘 𝑡ℎ
clock pulse and for the initial state 𝑘 is zero
• This 𝑠0 𝑘 is a Boolean function of each individual states.
• A feedback shift register is said to be linear when the
feedback logic consists of modulo-2 adders.
• In such a case, a zero state (all flip-flops are in 0 state) is not
permitted
• As a result the period on such PN can’t exceed 2𝑚 − 1

8
 Cont. …
• When the period is exactly 2𝑚 − 1, the PN sequence is called
a maximal length sequence or simply 𝑚-sequence
• Example: for a linear feedback shift register shown below,
compute the output PN sequence. It’s assumed that the intial
state of the shift register is 100.

• ANS: 00111010 …
• If the binary symbols 1 and 0 are denoted by levels +1 𝑎𝑛𝑑 −
1 respectively, the subsequent waveform can be given as;

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 Choosing a maximal length sequence

• How do we find the feedback logic for a desired period N?

• The answer for this question could be to use the following
compiled table for shift register length of 𝑚 = 2, 3, … , 8

10
 Example
• Compute 2-different maximal length sequences using 5 linear
shifted registers

Code for 5,2 : 0000101011101100011111001101001 …

Code for 5, 4, 2, 1 : 0000110101001000101111101100111 …
• Obviously the first code generator has advantage as it requires
fewer feedback connections

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Overview
• Introduction to spread spectrum
• Pseudo - noise sequence
• Basic concepts of spread spectrum
• Direct sequence spread spectrum
• Signal-Space Dimensionality and processing gain
• Probability of Error
• Frequency hopped spread spectrum

12
 Basic spread spectrum Techniques
• A narrowband signal is spread to a wideband signal
• One method of widening the bandwidth of a data sequence is
involves the use of modulation
• Let 𝑏𝑘 denote a binary data sequence, and 𝑐𝑘 denote a PN
sequence,
• Let 𝑏(𝑡) and 𝑐(𝑡) denote their respective polar non-return to
zero representations in terms of levels ±1
• The desired modulation is achieved by applying the data
signal 𝑏(𝑡) and the PN signal 𝑐(𝑡) to a product modulator as;

13
 Cont. …
• The received signal 𝑟(𝑡) consists of the transmitted signal 𝑚(𝑡)
an additive interference denoted by 𝑖(𝑡), as shown in the
channel model
𝑟 𝑡 = 𝑚 𝑡 + 𝑖 𝑡 = 𝑐 𝑡 𝑏 𝑡 + 𝑖(𝑡)
• To recover the original message signal 𝑏(𝑡), the received
signal 𝑟(𝑡) is applied to a demodulator that consists of a
multiplier followed by an integrator, and decision device

• Assuming perfect synchronism, the multiplier output becomes;

𝑧 𝑡 = 𝑐 𝑡 𝑟 𝑡 = 𝑐 2 𝑡 𝑏 𝑡 + 𝑐 𝑡 𝑖(𝑡)

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 Cont. …
• The above equation shows that the data signal 𝑏(𝑡) is
multiplied twice by the PN signal 𝑐(𝑡), whereas the unwanted
interference 𝑖(𝑡) is multiplied only once.
• Note that c(t) alternates between +1 and -1, and the
alternation is destroyed when it is squared; hence,
𝑐 2 𝑡 = 1 for all 𝑡
• Accordingly, we may simplify the expression of 𝑧(𝑡) as;
𝑧 𝑡 = 𝑏 𝑡 + 𝑐 𝑡 𝑖(𝑡)
• Here 𝑏(𝑡) is narrowband signal while 𝑐 𝑡 𝑖 𝑡 is wideband
• If we use a low pass filter with a bandwidth just large enough
to accommodate the data signal 𝑏(𝑡), spurious component of
𝑐 𝑡 𝑖 𝑡 could be filtered-out.
• Finally a decision will be made by the decision device
15
Overview
• Introduction to spread spectrum
• Pseudo – noise sequence
• Basic concepts of spread spectrum
• Direct sequence spread spectrum
• Frequency hopped spread spectrum

16
 Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum
• The technique presented in the previous section is known as
direct sequence spread spectrum in the context of baseband
transmission
• To use this technique in the passband, we may add BPSK into
the transmitter and receiver, as shown

17
 Cont. …
• In the receiver, the received signal 𝑦(𝑡) is first multiplied by the
PN signal 𝑐(𝑡) yielding an output that equals the coherent
detector input 𝑢(𝑡)
𝑢 𝑡 = 𝑐 𝑡 𝑦 𝑡 = 𝑐 2 𝑡 𝑠 𝑡 + 𝑐 𝑡 𝑗 𝑡 = 𝑠 𝑡 + 𝑐 𝑡 𝑗(𝑡)
• This equation shows that the coherent detector input 𝑢(𝑡)
consists of a BPSK signal 𝑠(𝑡) embedded in additive code-
modulated interference denoted by 𝑐 𝑡 𝑗 𝑡
• The PN code in the receiver spreads the spectrum of the
interference signal (jammer) such that the detection of data
bits can be performed with increased reliability
• Each bit in original signal is represented by multiple bits in the
transmitted signal

18
 Cont. …
• One technique combines digital information stream with the
spreading code bit stream using exclusive-OR
• DSSS can also be elegantly written as pointwise product of
vectors when using ±1 instead of 0/1
▪ If we assign: “1” = -1, “0” = +1
• Example: Sender A sends 𝐴𝑑 = 1 , and used a chipping
sequence Ac = 010011. Compute transmitted signal 𝐴𝑠 = 𝐴𝑑 ∗
𝐴𝑐 (pointwise product).
• Rewrite, only one value per chip is shown
𝐴𝑑 = −1, −1, −1, −1, −1, −1 ; 𝐴𝑐 = +1, −1, +1, +1, −1, −1
• The transmitted signal becomes;
𝐴𝑠 = 𝐴𝑑 ∗ 𝐴𝑐 = −1, −1, −1, −1, −1, −1 ∗ +1, −1, +1, +1, −1, −1
𝐴𝑠 = −1, +1, −1, −1, +1, +1

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Example 2: DSSS Transmission on signal Level

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 DSSS- Receiver
• Converting spreaded chip sequence back to bits
• Receiver
▪ Needs to know sender’s key 𝐴𝑐 , symbol duration T
▪ Has received sequence 𝐴𝑅 from A, in perfect phase
synchronization
▪ Computes a scalar product
𝑇
𝐴𝑒 = 𝐴𝑅 ∗ 𝐴𝑐 = න 𝐴𝑅 𝑡 . 𝐴𝑐 𝑡 𝑑𝑡
0
• Example:
𝐴𝑅 = −1, +1, −1, −1, +1, +1 ; 𝐴𝑐 = +1, −1, +1, +1, −1, −1
𝐴𝑒 = 𝐴𝑅 ∗ 𝐴𝑐 = −1 + −1 + −1 + −1 + −1 + −1 = −6
• How to use 𝐴𝑒 to decide which bit 𝐴𝑑 has been transmitted?
𝐴𝑒 = −6 < 0, hence level -1 (symbol: “1” ) was transmitted
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Cont. …
• If some levels are flipped because of noise/interference
• Example:
𝐴𝑅 = −1, +1, +1, −1, −1, +1 ; 𝐴𝑐 = +1, −1, +1, +1, −1, −1
𝐴𝑒 = 𝐴𝑅 ∗ 𝐴𝑐 = −1 + −1 + +1 + −1 + +1 + −1
= −2 > −6
• Decision rule:
▪ Decide for a 0 if 𝐴𝑒 = 𝐴𝑅 ∗ 𝐴𝑐 > 0;
▪ Decide for a 1 if 𝐴𝑒 = 𝐴𝑅 ∗ 𝐴𝑐 < 0;
▪ Decide randomly if 𝐴𝑒 = 𝐴𝑅 ∗ 𝐴𝑐 = 0

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Overview
• Introduction to spread spectrum
• Pseudo - noise sequence
• Basic concepts of spread spectrum
• Direct sequence spread spectrum
• Frequency hopped spread spectrum

23
 Frequency Hopping Spread Spectrum (FHSS)
• In this technique, the carrier frequency hops randomly from
one frequency to another
▪ Sequence of frequency changes determined by PN number sequence
▪ M-FSK is a commonly used modulation format and the technique is
referred to as FH/MFSK
▪ Additional “hopping” increases the required bandwidth
• It has two versions
▪ Slow Hopping: several user bits per hop
▪ Fast hopping: several frequency hops per user bit
• Advantages
▪ Fading and interference limited to short period
▪ Uses only small portion of a spectrum at any time
• Disadvantage
▪ Not as robust as direct sequence spread spectrum

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 Cont. …

• An individual FH/MFSK tone of short duration is called a chip

and its rate (chip rate 𝑅𝑐 ) is defined by 𝑅𝑐 = max 𝑅ℎ , 𝑅𝑠 ,
where 𝑅ℎ is the hop-rate and 𝑅𝑠 is the symbol rate

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Cont. …

26
Overview
• Introduction to spread spectrum
• Pseudo - noise sequence
• Basic concepts of spread spectrum
• Direct sequence spread spectrum
• Frequency hopped spread spectrum
▪ Slow Frequency Hopping
▪ Fast Frequency Hopping

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 Slow Frequency Hopping
• A slow FH/MFSK signal is characterized by having multiple
symbols transmitted per hop
• Hence, each symbol of a slow FH/MFSK signal is a chip
• The bit rat 𝑅𝑏 of the incoming binary data, the symbol rate 𝑅𝑠
of the MFSK signal, the chip rate 𝑅𝑐 , and hope rate 𝑅ℎ are
related by
𝑅𝑏
𝑅𝑐 = 𝑅𝑠 = ≥ 𝑅ℎ , 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑘 = log 2 𝑀
𝐾
• At each hop, the MFSK tones are separated in frequency by
an integer multiple of the chip rate 𝑅𝑐 = 𝑅𝑠 , ensuring their
orthogonality.
• Assuming that the jammer decides to spread its average
power J over the entire frequency-hopped spectrum, the
jammer’s effect is equivalent to an AWGN with power spectral
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 Cont. …
Density 𝑁𝑜 Τ2 , where 𝑁𝑜 = 𝐽Τ𝑊𝑐 and 𝑊𝑐 is the FH bandwidth
• The spread spectrum system is thus characterized by the
symbol energy-to-noise spectral density ratio:
𝐸 𝑃 Τ𝐽
=
𝑁𝑜 𝑅𝑠 Τ𝑊𝑐
• Where the ratio 𝑃Τ𝐽 is the reciprocal of the jamming margin
and the reciprocal of the denominator (𝑊𝑐 Τ𝑅𝑠 ) is the
processing gain of the slow FH/MFSK which is defined as:
𝑊𝑐
𝑃𝐺 = = 2𝑘
𝑅𝑠
• This gain expressed in dB is equal to 10 log10 2𝑘 ≅ 3𝑘, where
𝑘 is the length of the PN segment employed to select a
frequency hop

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 Fast Frequency Hopping
• A fast FH/MFSK system differs from a slow FH/MFSK in that there are
multiple hops per M-ary symbol.
• Hence, in fast FH/MFSK system, each hop is a chip.
• In general, fast FH is used to defeat a smart jammer’s tactic that involves
two functions
▪ Measurements of the spectral content of the transmitted signal
▪ Retuning of the interfering signal to that portion of the frequency band
• Hence, the transmitted signal should be hopped quickly before the jammer
completes processing of these functions
• For data recovery, non-coherent detection can be used in two procedures;
➢ For each FH/MFSK symbol, separate decisions are made on the 𝑘
frequency-hop chips received, and a simple rule based on majority vote
is used to estimate the dehopped signal
➢ For each FH/MFSK symbol, likelihood functions are computed as
functions of the total signal received over k-chips, and the largest one is
selected
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Examples: Fast and Slow FH/MFSK
1. A slow FH/MFSK system has the following parameters:
Number of bits per MFSK symbol= 4
Number of MFSK symbols per hop= 5
Calculate the processing gain of the system.
2. A fast FH/MFSK system has the following parameters:
Number of bits per MFSK symbol= 4
Number of hops per MFSK symbols = 4
Calculate the processing gain of the system.

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